Junk food dreaming

Most of you, if you are willing to look into the darker recesses of your soul with some honesty, will admit that fatty, salty, greasy food becomes much more appealing after a touch of over indulgence. That is why hot dog stands tend to open at 8pm and be situated outside night clubs. What might be less recognised though is the link between sleep and the desire for junk food but a new study has highlighted this interesting area.

For the study researchers from Columbia University took MRI scans of brain activity in men and women when they looked at images of healthy and unhealthy snacks. The scans were taken either after five nights where the subjects were restricted to four hours sleep per night or after five nights where they had unrestricted sleep for up to nine hours.

The results showed that different parts of the brain were activated in response to unhealthy and healthy food but only when people were sleep deprived. In sleep deprived people unhealthy food led to activation of reward centres in the brain.

Previous research has shown that restricted sleep leads to increased food consumption in healthy people and an increased desire for sweet and salty foods. There is also speculation that lack of sleep can contribute to weight gain and obesity.

Sleep of course, provides all sorts of balancing health effects throughout your body. This study suggests that in a 24-hour society lack of sleep may also be playing a role in the massive problem of weight gain and obesity. It also provides a possible explanation as to why there is any market at all for congealed animal by-products in batter on a stick.